Lawless
by UberNerd121
Summary: Star Command captures Nos-4-a2 on Trade World right before he and Two head to Earth. Can he make it out with Two, or will he be sentenced to life in prison?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

EVE Probe Two was never anything special. That is, not until she met Nos-4-a2. Both of their worlds changed entirely when they met; one turning from ordinary to strong and the other turning from ruthless to thoughtful. The closer they became, the more evident it was that they would need to leave Nos's dangerous lifestyle behind and settle down on a planet. Of course, Nos-4-a2 picked Earth for Two's sake, and after one more refueling on Trade World, they would be on their way.

"Stay inside, love. This'll only be a few minutes," Nos-4-a2 ushered Two back into the ship, glancing around to make sure that no one was around to see. They had returned to the dangerous planet for one reason only: Nos's custom-built ship. The crystals that he needed to power it were only sold on Trade World and the engine was running low. He only needed to fill up the power cell half-way to make it to Earth.

But with the Trade World's bad reputation, he couldn't help being overly alert. He hunched menacingly under the bow of the ship where Two waited. His scarlet optics created a hazy cloud of red light in the thick, polluted air, all his other sensors easily detecting any suspicious sounds or movements.

Around the back of the ship, a worker was replacing the crystals. Nos-4-a2 felt he could trust this "company" not to tear apart his ship for scrap because they respected the villain that he used to be, the villain they still thought he was.

The impatient android fidgeted and looked around the ship. Just a bit longer... the worker would finish replacing the crystals and they could leave that horrid place. He let himself sink into his thoughts while keeping his senses alert. Somehow, even through his high-power sensory systems, Two still managed to catch him off guard.

"What's taking so long?" she asked warily. She didn't like Trade World any more than he did.

"Don't worry darling, we won't be here much longer. Go back inside," he quietly waved her off. She scrunched up her eyeforms and shook her head, hovering closer to her vampire and holding onto one of his arms.

"I'd rather wait with you," she said. He looked down at her, not able to keep himself from smiling through the threatening disposition he put up. Even though they weren't in the clear yet, he couldn't help looking forward to their upcoming life. It was almost the perfect time to ask her the one burning question that all relationships strive to reach, and though she might see it coming, it was thrilling all the same. Just looking at Two made Nos's power core flutter.

His optics became distant with fond thoughts as they hovered in silence. Two looked around at the stacks of garbage and strange rodents that foraged around in them, deciding that her companion was a more attractive sight. When she looked up at his face, she found it riddled with an almost nervous expression.

"You alright, Nos?"

Nos-4-a2 blinked down at her in surprise, "What do you mean?"

"You were making a face. Is everything okay?" she reiterated.

"O-Oh, erm, absolutely!" he nodded quickly. Leave it to her to notice the little details... the look in her pixelated eyeforms told him that she didn't buy it.

"...Fine, you got me, I have a surprise for you," he admitted.

She immediately lit up, "Really? What is it?"

"Ah, that's the catch, little one!" he laughed, "If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise."

The little probe pouted at the Energy Vampire. That sweet little face almost always won him over, but he felt that this particular issue was too big to let go.

"Not this time, love. You're going to have to wait," he smiled with a pat to her shoulder.

"Fine..." she sighed.

Before Two could start to ponder what Nos could be planning, the worker darted around the side of the ship, calling out that he finished the job as he disappeared into a nearby alley. He vanished in a blur, immediately fading into the shadows. Nos pondered, briefly wondering if he was overdoing the evil act.

"What was that all about?" Two mumbled.

The tall robot looked after him in confusion before picking up a minute energy signature on the other side of his ship. His motors froze when he recognised the familiar frequency: something that he'd both hunted and fled. He protectively held Two, preparing to shield her from any incoming projectile, and extend his wings to their full capacity. His optics met her eyeforms for a fraction of a second, but it felt like it lasted a lifetime. Her sweet blue pools of light were shaped in an unknowing expression, but he only had enough time to utter three words: _I'm so sorry._

Blinding light flooded in from every direction. He didn't have to see the source to know it was danger.

"_Nos-4-a2, we have you completely surrounded! Release the robot or prepare to be shut down!_" the voice of Buzz Lightyear himself rang out from the Star Command hover bikes. Two emitted an immense amount of electrical terror, and he immediately let her go. She clung to his hand as he tried to push her away. So much confusion and pain emanated from her core; it was heartbreaking not to soothe her, but they had bigger problems. He glared up at the light source directly in front of them.

"What do you want from me, Rangers?! I haven't done anything!" he called out angrily. Two remained a deer in the headlights, frozen by Nos's side and doing everything in her power to keep contact.

"_It's time to face what's been coming to you. You'll be coming with us, and if you don't release that probe immediately, we will use force_," the speakers blared.

The vampire glanced at his companion, stiff with fear, and tried once more to shake her off.

"Eve, let go!" he whispered harshly. Her eyeforms were expanded to the size of saucers as she met his optics. She gave a hardly detectable shake of her head and gripped his hand tighter. "_Let go now!_" he hissed. The urgency of his tone appeared to reach her the second time as she pried her fingers from his metal. He hovered away from her and put up his hands, nodding at her to do the same thing. By that point, she seemed to be completely frozen.

A Star Command space cruiser lowered itself into the area and two Rangers on hover bikes came down to pin them in on either side. Boiling hatred seared through every one of Nos-4-a2's systems as tears brimmed along the bottom of Two's visor. It took his every ounce of willpower not to offer her any comfort, or to lash out at the Space Rangers surrounding them. All he could do was glare up at the light and hover forward. A separate pair of Rangers broke between them, but all he could hear was a cry of fear before they pushed him into a Star Command space cruiser, binding his hands together with metal cuffs.

"Where are you taking her?!" he demanded. Without him, Two only had the Earth to turn back to, and there was no way she could find her own way back from Trade World.

"Somewhere you won't be able to have any control over that robot's mind, and where we can remove any corrupted programming," one of the green-and-white clad officers responded. Anger once again heated the Energy Vampire.

"If you harm a single atom of her frame, I will rip the foundation of Star Command apart bolt by bolt!" he thundered.

"Shut up and get in the cell! You'll be taken into questioning when we reach the main station. Until then, we have permission to shoot if you resist," the other Ranger, a scaly red reptilian, hissed.

He bit his tongue as the bars slid shut. His talons scraped against each other in the heavy cuffs. To think they were almost to safety...

~~~

"Yes, Commander, we have the Energy Vampire in the brig, we are on our way," the captain confirmed to his superior. The other three members of the team silently celebrated their victory.

"_Great job, Lightyear. It's about time we caught that slippery rat. You're sure there's no way for him to escape?_"

"Yes, sir. Two Rangers are standing guard as we speak."

"_Fantastic! Is that all?_"

The team all shared an unsure glance, but it took a moment for Buzz to decide to voice their concerns.

"Well, Commander, he hardly resisted at all. We're afraid that he might be hiding something up his sleeve," he said carefully.

"_You're taking all the necessary precautions, though, aren't you?_"

"Absolutely sir, but that's not all. He had a female model with him who is currently being kept in the infirmary. She seems to be completely hysterical. We don't know if she's been brainwashed or if she's some sort of pet. All the other victims have referred to him as 'Master', but this one keeps calling him 'Nos'. We're not sure what to make of it."

The grey-mustachioed man on the other side of the screen appeared to be stumped as well. "_There's no way to know what Nos-4-a2 is up to. I suggest that someone goes in there and tries to get more information from the victim; maybe gain her trust. If you can manage to salvage her sanity she'll prove as a valuable witness of his evil._"

"We'll get right on it, sir."

"_Commander Nebula out._"

The screen blinked off and Lightyear turned to face the rest of the team. XR was pretending to be invested in a system status panel, Booster was sitting at attention, and Mira was watching intently.

"Mira, I think you should try to gain the robot's trust," Buzz announced.

"What? Why me?" she exclaimed.

"You heard the Commander, Princess! We need someone who can try to reach out to her."

"And that person has to be me because...?"

The captain thought for a moment before replying, "You're the most sensitive member of our team, so you'd have the best chance of relating to her."

"...It's because I'm the only girl, isn't it?"

"Yup."

The Tangean sighed in exasperation and stood up in her station, walking to the exit while mumbling something about sexism and biases.

XR gestured as if to roll his eyes as soon as she was out of the Bridge. "Just what we need..." he sighed, "First the Vampire, then his crazy girl-pet, and now a moody princess."

~~~

A/N: I'm not a great fan of this story... but I was writing it before I decided I was going to post out of order. Here it is!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Two was shaking down to her core. She'd never seen Nos-4-a2 like that before... that look in his optic... it was fear. He'd told her about Star Command before, but it always seemed like such a fairytail...

_How am I here?_ she pondered in shock. One second they were about to take off from Trade World, the next she was being ripped from Nos and thrown into the tiny medical ward of a Star Command space cruiser! It was a disgustingly white little room stuffed with blinking machines and monitors, with no windows to judge where they were, which only scared her more. There was a little cot pressed against the wall, with just enough room for her to squeeze behind it. The Rangers who were trying to talk to her had given up and left her on her own, so all she could think about was Nos-4-a2.

_What could they have done to him? Why do they want me, too?_ No matter what she asked, they wouldn't give her a straight answer. She eventually started ignoring them and crammed herself back into the corner, which was far less than comfortable. It was there she remained for a whole half hour, stuck in panic and fear and confusion, until there was an unexpected interruption.

"Um, h-hello?" she recoiled back into her hiding place at the sound of the door opening. A Ranger quietly stepped in and she squinted her eyeforms shut as if it would make the terrifying being disappear.

"What? Where did she-oh."

The footsteps approached the trembling, white probe.

"Hey, um, little robot... how's... how's it goin'?"

She peeked one eyeform open. The Ranger, a female, was leaning in close... far too close for Two's preference. She had light blue skin and shockingly orange hair, with big, bright eyes. Two recognized her from Nos's stories as Princess Mira Nova. She was a rookie; one of Buzz Lightyear's sidekicks. Although, in Nos-4-a2's battle stories, XR had been the most detailed and detested of Team Lightyear's rookies, the Tangean princess had been a close second.

"Are you alright?"

Mira sounded more gentle and kind than the others, but the suit she was wearing looked like death to the gardening probe. She couldn't tell why, but despite the suit and her lover's opinion, there was something that made her feel like she could talk to the Ranger... maybe it was because she looked nervous, like she actually had a soul.

"Am I alright?" Two tested the question in her own vocal processors, "What do you think?"

Mira laughed embarrassedly, "I-I guess that isn't the best question, I just, well... gosh, I don't know. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Yes." she answered simply. Mira brightened up for a moment before Two finished, "You can let Nos-4-a2 and I go so we can get on with our lives."

The royal Ranger sighed, pressing her hand to her face.

"Why the heck are you so attached to that villain? I mean, the whole robotic mind control thing I can understand, but you really seem devoted to him!"

Two frowned, hugging her arms close to her body and curling farther into her niche.

"You don't know anything. He's not a villain, and I've never even been bitten by him," she said bitterly. She knew it wasn't true, there had been several times when she willingly let him take her energy, but she wasn't going to let the rangers know that.

"What?! Oh, come on! How could he not be evil?" Mira exclaimed.

"How can you consider yourselves the protectors of the galaxy if you won't even give us the benefit of the doubt!? What evidence have we given you that we're evil?" the little probe accused. Mira was silent. Two's words held some truth.

"I just..." the robot mumbled dejectedly, "I just want to go home with Nos..."

A moment of silence passed between them before Mira left Two to her heartsick thoughts, going without a word.

In 42's brig, the Energy Vampire wasn't faring any better. Worry for his Two consumed his mind, but he knew better than to speak up. The clever robot knew that it was neither the time nor the place. All he did was think of ways to convince the Space Rangers that he wasn't evil any longer, or at least that his partner was innocent. He could face a thousand lifetimes in jail if it meant that his Two would be safe, but he still ached to be with her...

The only plan he could come up with was saying that he hadn't done anything wrong, and he was willing to do whatever it took to show them that he was a changed robot. His original programming didn't dictate who he was anymore, and he was ready to prove it.  
He would do it for his Eve.

~~~


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Nos-4-a2 didn't see Two when he was escorted from the space cruiser to the interrogation room on Star Command. It was a place he was relatively familiar with: white walls with green and purple accents made a cramped box filled mostly by a metal table with chairs at each end. When the door slid shut, it blended in perfectly to the wall on either side.

"Don't you make any trouble, vampire," one of Nos's escorts sneered, "Buzz Lightyear'll be here to take care of you in a minute.

Nos-4-a2 silently took a seat and rubbed a hand over his face. The space station whirred with a quiet thrum that seemed all too loud to him. The electricity that radiated from all around registered only as annoying background noise to the Energy Vampire, so he toned down his sensors to have some peace. Nos shut his optic and tried to clear his mind.

Reaching past the stress that clouded his processors, he pinpointed the most important thoughts. To have any chance of making it out alive he'd have to tell the truth, and convince the ranger of it. Nos began running a conversation in his motherboard, thinking of responses to any questions he might be asked. It was slow going with the one distraction that kept surfacing in his mind.

It was Two.

Was she safe? Where were they keeping her? Had they hurt her?

The door brought Nos-4-a2 from his thoughts as Captain Lightyear entered the small chamber.

"Well... Nos-4-a2, we meet again. Do you know why you're here?" Buzz asked as he took the seat opposite Nos.

The tall robot frowned, "No, not really. I wasn't doing anything particularly wrong when you all decided to drop in."

"On the contrary, you were controlling that little probe, and your past record was enough reason to suspect the worst. The last time I saw you, you were blown to pieces. What happened?"

Nos sighed and shook his head. "First of all, her name is Eve... or Two, and I am not in control of her. Couldn't be if I wanted to. Second, a Brainpod rebuilt me in hopes of escape. He offered me my freedom if I'd agree to take him off Planet Z, since Shiv Katall was no longer in business."

"So what did you do?" Lightyear cocked an eyebrow.

"...I killed him and escaped on my own. It was three years ago," Nos admitted quietly.

"Hm. I would almost say you sounded sorry if I didn't know any better."

"I am ashamed of the things I've done; I know it's wrong now. I have resigned from villainy, and was just giving my ship a final refueling before heading to Earth."

"Oh yeah? And why should I trust your word? Earth is the newest planet to join the Galactic Alliance, so I don't think you'd be able to escape from the law there," the Space Ranger crossed his arms over his chest.

Nos-4-a2 was silent for a moment. He still wasn't sure how to convince them. A heavy sigh escaped his speakers and his shoulders sank. There didn't seem to be any way out.

"You're right."

The words caught Lightyear off guard.

"Earth is Twp's home planet, but I have no reason to think that I'd be welcome there as well. She wanted so badly to be back with her family, but I don't see why you'd trust me. I suppose you'll just throw me in a cell for the rest of my life. Can you at least promise me that you'll take Two to Earth? She can't make it on her own, and I want her home safe."

Faltering with surprise, the humanoid ranger scrutinized the vampire. Could what he'd said be true? If he was concerned for the other's safety, how evil could he really be?

"We'll be keeping you in the brig here on Star Command under constant surveillance. That little robot-'Two'-will be subjected to a few examinations to see if she's being controlled or not. If the latter is true we will quiz her on your story and see how much of it matches up," the captain said decisively. Nos looked up at him with disbelief.

"And if the stories match?"

"Then we'll start you on our relocation program for villains that have converted. Don't get your hopes up-there's still a lot of evidence heaped against you, but we must be fair."

"Alright... just be careful with her. Two is a delicate machine, and she was built nearly one thousand years ago."

Lightyear eyed Nos-4-a2 unsurely before opening the door. Two more organic rangers were there to take the Energy Vampire to his cell.

As Buzz watched them leave, he couldn't help wondering about Nos's change in character.

~~~

"Hey, uh, Two?"

The white robot blinked the reboot sign out of her field of vision. She was lying on her side in a dimly lit room, a window on one wall providing a clear view of the stars. A planet slowly rotated into sight. It looked like Earth, but with greener continents and a cleaner atmosphere.

"Rise and shine," Mira called half-heartedly.

Two sat up in the small cot and groaned, "Damn it. I thought this might have been a nightmare."

The blue skinned woman sighed as Two inspected the new room. The walls were plastered with charts that shaped themselves around cupboards and machines of all shapes and sizes. Mira was leaning against a cluttered counter next to a sink.

"You fell asleep on the ship last night, so we wheeled you straight into the infirmary here. I hope you don't mind."

Two rubbed at her eyeforms and shrugged. Her self-regenerating energy source hadn't replenished all the way in the unrestful period of sleep mode that she had.

"What have you done with Nos?" Two asked, not expecting an answer. She wanted to be able to see him again, if only for a moment to know that he was still functioning.

"Well, he said all the same stuff you did, so we're going to run a couple tests to make sure you're not really brainwashed," Mira explained.

"No kidding?" Two brightened.

"Yeah. We have to make sure."

As if waiting for their que, a trio of LGMs filed into the room, trailed by a small, floating medical droid.

"Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator Probe?" they crooned in unison.

She nodded nervously at the knee-high group of scientists. Their nine eyes all focused intently on her, and she didn't like it one bit.

"Here for your mental check," one of the aliens told her.

"And physical," another concluded.

Two held still as the potato-sized scanner flew around her, taking data of her schematics and programming. She hovered uncomfortably for a few minutes until the droid finished its work.

The LGM closest to it took the machine and clipped it to an electronic board to view the information. Two was surprised to see a full list of her directives.

Marked as number zero was her initial program to search for photosynthetic life on Earth in order to bring the humans home. It was in green print with a check next to it that meant the directive was complete. Two's face flushed with static when she saw item number one under her primary directive, labeled "Nos-4-a2."

Mira looked at the list in shock while Two watched the green aliens. They quietly muttered to one another, and the probe realized just what such information could mean to them.

"It was my own decision to accept that directive," Two announced. The trio hummed thoughtfully and scrolled through the rest of the information. She seemed clean until they reached a page of her schematics that recorded every area that had ever been damaged and/or repaired on her body. The image was clear besides one red area at the rim of her neck bowl.

Two gingerly fingered the perfectly patched metal on her chassis.

"Bite marks?" the three LGMs asked suspiciously.

"Well, I-I felt bad for him, since... since I wouldn't let him eat robots, and it was hard for him to switch to batteries, so I let him have some of my energy..." Two stuttered.

They squinted at her suspiciously.

"I swear! He never used any venom! It was only an energy transfer," she promised.

The LGMs hummed unsurely. One of them pointed to the front of her torso, "These markings...?"

Two looked down and observed the jagged black design on her body. It was the same pattern as the one on Nos-4a2's chin. "Oh... er... Nos said it made me look cute," she admitted shyly.

"Wait, you mean that the vampire has feelings for you too?" Mira exclaimed, "I thought you were just a persistent lackey who got close enough to influence his decisions."

"Hey!" Two shouted, "Don't talk about us like that! It's none of your business anyways."

Mira rolled her eyes.

"This information is sufficient," one of the scientists announced.

"Sufficient for what?" the white probe frowned worriedly. It didn't seem like they'd gathered that much information at all, but she was happy to see them go.

"Dr. Animus," one said.

"He will review the information today," the second chimed in.

"He will administer the final test tomorrow: the emotional test," the third finished.

Two sank nervously. There was more evidence pinned against them than she'd realized, and she could only hope that "Dr. Animus" was an understanding creature.

~~~


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Early the next day, Two was awoken by a pair of Space Rangers who introduced themselves as Booster and XR. Nos-4-a2 had told her about XR, the short robot Ranger, but Booster was completely unfamiliar to her. He seemed too big from every angle: a mass of scaly red alien with two scraggly ears on top.

"Please come right this way," Booster gestured broadly towards the door of the small room they had fixed Two in. Despite his size, his voice was almost childish in pitch. He seemed nice enough, with a toothy grin and honest eyes, but he was still a Ranger. She couldn't trust him.

XR, on the other hand, didn't have a single feature that Two liked. He was slouched with his arms crossed impatiently across his chest, but what really bothered her was the look in his optics. He didn't seem to be looking at her visor. She tried to casually pull at her cape in an attempt to block his gaze.

"Are we going to see Dr. Animus?" Two asked cautiously.

"Yup," Booster nodded, "but you'll be the only one going in. He likes to keep things private."

The thought of being alone with a strange doctor was unsettling to the probe, but she had hardly gotten a moment of peace since she'd been on Star Command. It was all she could do not to think that things couldn't get worse. She hovered out of the door with Booster and XR following on either side.

Culture shock was a term inadequate to describe what the Earthling robot experienced in the halls of Star Command. No matter where she looked, a myriad of strange creatures clad in green and white were walking about the station. The variety of aliens was so much greater than anything she'd seen before, though she appeared to attract attention as well. Some people stopped to look at her, others snuck glances, and quite a few did double takes as if her simple white frame was the image of a spectre.

The farther they went, the more Two felt that she was lost in a labyrinth with only her escorts to keep her from losing her way. They continued their constant pace for at least five minutes before the corridors became less crowded by the strange variety of aliens and more populated by Little Green Men. There were less wide open bays and offices and more private doors. Booster and XR led the apprehensive Two towards the door that radiated the most importance. It was set apart wider than the rest of the doors and sported a more complex color scheme, throwing a daunting maroon into the mix of white, green, and purple. A gold plaque on the door boasted: "Dr. Animus, Psychiatrist."

"'Psychiatrist?' My mind is in a fine condition," Two complained quietly.

"Sure it is. That must be why you're claiming to be in a relationship with the universe's most dangerous robot criminal," XR scoffed, to which Booster reacted with a reproachful nudge.

Two clenched her fists and narrowed her optics, trying to keep herself from making a scene, "Shut up. You don't know anything."

XR rolled his optics and Booster opened the door in an effort to end their brawl before it began. Two turned away from the robot ranger and began to hover into the dimly lit office, but XR's extended hand on her shoulder kept her in place.

She reacted with disgust, expecting to see an insincere expression on his face, but was surprised by the empathy evident in his circular optics. "Listen, Two... I've been under Nos-4-a2's mind control in the past. If you remember any of this after the LGMs patch you up, we should get together."

Two struck out with the arm that XR had his hand on, sending him across the hall. Booster winced as the short probe huffed into Dr. Animus's office without another word.

"The _nerve_! That _lowlife_! What a _horrible_ little—"

"Hello," an accented voice interrupted the probe's swearing.

Two's visor flushed with static. Sitting at a desk on the far side of the room was a green skinned alien with a tall, narrow head and a bushy red unibrow and mustache. A pair of thick spectacles sat on his face between the two scraggles of hair, magnifying his thoughtful expression. A plaque on his desk displayed the same title as the one on his door. Two couldn't help noticing that his uniform was different than the Rangers', though it was still green and purple.

"You must be Miss Two," the Psychiatrist hummed.

"I-I... um... yes," she murmured with chagrin.

"Please don't be nervous. Take a seat and we'll begin," the alien's mustache moved as he spoke. Two briefly wondered why his accent was German when he'd probably never been to Earth, but dismissed it as a coincidence. Nos-4-a2 had a bit of a British accent, after all.

"So what was that little scuffle all about?" Dr. Animus asked.

Two settled onto the sofa across from the alien's desk, frowning with cautious confusion at the doctor's tone. He sounded detached, as if he didn't care about the state of the Ranger she'd just swatted into a wall. His expression was purely analytical. "Nothing. Just a crude can with no respect for a lady's dignity."

Animus cocked one side of his unibrow. "Would you mind elaborating?"

"Yes," Two muttered, "That's not why you wanted to see me today, so why waste time?"

"Hm," the man scribbled a few lines on the stack of papers in front of him, "Right to the point, I see. So I understand you came here with a certain Energy Vampire?"

"Well... I wouldn't say we 'came' here, exactly, but I was with him when the Rangers captured us," Two said with narrowed eyeforms.

"Yes, I see. Were you with him willingly?" the doctor asked.

"Absolutely. I've been staying with Nos-4-a2 for... a while," she said vaguely.

"And how long is 'a while?'"

Two diverted her eyeforms to the floor. She knew that lying wouldn't improve anything, so she told him the truth: "...I've chosen to stay with him for about three years now, but he's had me with him for four."

"Oh? And what about that first year?"

Two thought for a good long minute before responding, remembering when she'd explained the same thing to her sister probe One. It hadn't been an easy conversation, and this was shaping up to be just as awkward.

"I know this isn't going to sound good for us, but when Nos-4-a2 and I first met, he... tried to kill me."

"Please explain."

She sighed inwardly. That was practically all he'd said so far. "He found me on Trade World and tried to control me to take my electricity, but he couldn't. When he made optical contact to wirelessly override my systems, nothing happened. I just tried to shoot at him. Nos is obviously bigger than me and I don't have great aim, so he overpowered me and took me to his ship. He said he wanted to study whatever made me immune to his power so he could overcome it in the future."

Dr. Animus scribbled and scratched away at his paper, taking a bit longer this time. "Ah. And you believe his intentions changed?"

"Yes... once he figured it all out, we had grown to know each other. I guess it was kind of lonely on his ship, and I was the only other free-bodied robot. I asked him once why he didn't want to take my power anymore, but he just said he didn't have the heart..."

Dr. Animus scribbled away at his papers with even more fervor than before, chewing the cap of his pen pensively and reviewing his notes before looking at Two again. He already knew the probe had a defensive temperament, and was worried about how she would react when he asked her the next few questions.

"Hmm... you say Nos-4-a2 'figured it all out.' Do you mean the anomaly that made you immune to his power?" he worded slowly.

Two nodded, "My technology is very different than his, but it's very advanced for the world that I'm from. My coding is complicated. There was no way for him to wirelessly override me."

"And he meant to find a way to overcome it. How do you know that he hasn't been controlling you, or that he hasn't been taking advantage of you ever since?"

Two sat still and silent, gazing out the window, while Dr. Animus waited for her response. Ten tense seconds passed before Two smiled, her speakers emitting a small, warm laugh.

"No, Doctor. It honestly couldn't be that way."

"...Why not?" he asked in perplexion.

"If Nos-4-a2 took my mind after he swore on his life that he wouldn't, that would mean he was still evil. I don't know about you, but I think that anyone who feels true love can't be evil at the same time."

When she looked at her interviewer, his pen was practically burning a hole through his paper. Two shifted on the sofa and wondered if she might have said too much.

"This means that you are in a romantic relationship with the Energy Vampire, despite his past? Do you honestly feel safe to put yourself in that position?"

Two blushed and looked down, nodding her head. She began to hate the critical scritching of his pen, the only noise in that dimly lit room. What could he be writing? Did he believe her, or was he condemning her? He just had to know that she was acting of her own free will. "Please... I don't know what else I can say or do to convince you all that Nos-4-a2 is changed. I just want to see him. If we were together, you'd all see... there's no evil left in him, and there's none in me."

"...Miss Two, I think it's time that you know the real problem of this situation. Your scans came out clean, and the information that you're giving me matches what Nos-4-a2 told us without error."

The blue of Two's eyeforms seemed to flash brighter in her excitement.

"But the real issue does not lie in the present. Nos-4-a2 never paid for his past crimes. In fact, every time he was taken in, he broke out and added more time to his sentence. The way things are looking right now, there is no way that he will be leaving here unless it's on an express flight to PC-7."

Two had started to tremble, slowly shaking her head. "No... there has to be some way! This can't be the end!"

"I'm sorry," Dr. Animus replied, "but there isn't. Even if he has converted from evil to good, our relocation program doesn't allow for villains who committed crimes of such caliber to be released."

"W-wait, a relocation program? For former villains?"

"Yes. There used to be an alias Shiv Katall who would liberate converted lackeys, but when his cover was blown on one of his cases, an underground relocation program was created under the same name. Like I said, though, Nos-4-a2 wouldn't be eligible. Many robots lost their lives because of him."

The short probe recoiled at the doctor's words. Her voice was just a whisper when she told him, "But... he didn't _know_ any better."

Animus readied his pen, "Oh? And how could that be so?"

"It was when we were first becoming friends. He asked me... why I was different. He said I was like him, which didn't make any sense to me. I was pretty mad when he said it, but he actually thought that he was the only robot with sentience. He was_programmed_ to think that. I was the first robot he'd actually gotten to know and he saw that I had my own conscience, but he didn't know how. He thought that when he... killed other robots, that they were just machines. His programming told him that. He didn't believe me when I told him most robots were like us."

Dr. Animus was writing again at the speed of light. Two saw that he was well into his second sheet of paper.

"He did end up believing you, though?"

"Yes. It was one of the scariest things I've ever seen when he finally faced the truth," Two's voice was hushed again. She was remembering the terrible outburst when the seemingly iron-willed Energy Vampire broke down as if all the pain he had ever caused other robots was suddenly bearing down on him.

"Scary?"

Two nodded. "There isn't really anything I can say to explain it. He can't get _sick_, really, unless it's a virus, but he hardly ate for days. I honestly didn't know if he was going to make it or not. I can't imagine how hard it must have been, as if I found out that every specimen of plant life I've ever scanned was being put through horrible torture. He was only doing what he was built to do."

"Regardless of that, the fact still remains that he is a murderer."

"And I know that he would give anything to change that! I don't think you understand, Dr. Animus, just how hard it is for any robot to defy his or her original directive, especially when it's to realize such a horrible reality. Nos-4-a2 is no villain... that damned Emperor Zurg is. Nos is my hero."

~~~

**A/N: **You have no idea how long this was sitting in my google drive, collecting dust while I stared menacingly at it and tried to formulate a better way to end it. As you can probably tell, nothing came to me. But still.


End file.
